The Bixby Program sponsored Taraneh Salke to attend Iran's first abortion seminar.

Here is her description of the seminar:

On February 26-27, 2003, I was sponsored by the Bixby Program to attend a seminar entitled, "A Comprehensive Seminar on All Aspects of Abortion," in Kermanshah, Iran. The seminar was organized by the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences and the Avesina Research Center in Tehran and was supported by various organizations, such as the Family Planning Association of Iran. The seminar constituted the first national public debate on the issue of abortion, and participants discussed policy changes and legalization of abortion in Iran. About 300 professionals from around the country attended the two-day seminar.

The organizers invited scholars and researches from both Universities and Religious Schools (Huze-elmieh) to submit abstracts and to attend the seminar. The seminar was divided into six sections with a panel of experts on each: medical, philosophy, religion and jurisprudence, sociology, psychology and law. Women played a major role in the seminar and almost exclusively represented the medical panel. Several women physicians, surgeons and educators emphasized that unsafe abortion is one of the main causes of maternal morbidity and mortality among Iranian women. They pointed out that the consequences of unsafe abortion mainly affect the poor women in the society who do not have access to competent private doctors. They also noted that, contrary to many other countries where the unmarried women seek abortion, abortion in Iran is mainly sought by married women with children.

There was a wide range of opinion about abortion among the clergy and government officials at the seminar. The opinions ranged from a liberal stance allowing abortion in most cases, to the conservative stance that abortion is murder and should be punishable by law. The discussion centered on the issue of the timing of soul formation. One of the important events of the seminar was a fatwa (religious decree) sent by an influential Ayatollah who resides in the holy city of Ghom, to be read to the audience during the religion panel discussion. The fatwa provided strong support women's right to an abortion prior to 4 months of gestation, which he believed to be the time when a soul is formed. It recognized financial hardship, among other causes, as a legitimate cause for abortion and gave the decision-making to the women.